UAVs aren't the most secure of devices, and a group of researchers from the University of Texas set out to prove the vulnerabilities of the expensive drones recently. Lead by Professor Todd Humphreys, the team built a spoofer for around $1000 in parts which managed to take control of a UAV owned by the college in front of the US Department of Homeland Security.
With the device, the crew was able to spoof the GPS system onboard the drone, and tricked it into following a new set of commands.
"Spoofing a GPS receiver on a UAV is just another way of hijacking a plane," Humphreys told Fox News, proving that the scenario in Black Ops 2 is entirely plausible.
In Treyarch's upcoming shooter, a terrorist organization takes control of the US military's UAV fleet, turning its weapons against it and sparking a war between the US and China.
"In five or ten years you have 30,000 drones in the airspace," said the professor. "Each one of these could be a potential missile used against us."
More than just machines of war, drones are also used for surveillance, and are being considered for commercial use to deliver packages, and act as remote cameras for the media.
"What if you could take down one of these drones delivering FedEx packages and use that as your missile?" Humphreys asked. "That’s the same mentality the 9-11 attackers had."
